Sociological views on family diversity

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  • Created by: Becky0701
  • Created on: 30-03-17 21:45
Functionlists Perspective
Sees the nuclear family as uniquely suited to meeting the needs of modern society. Other family types are seen as disfunctional since they are less able to perform the functions required of the family.
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The New Right Perspective
They are firmly opposed to family diversity and fully support the nuclear family.
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The New Right Perspective: Cohabitation Versus Marriage
The New Right claim that the main cause of lone-parent families is the collapse of relationships between cohabiting couples. The New Right perspective believe that this is due to a 'broken' society.
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Criticisms of The New Right Perspective 1
Feminist, Ann Oakley, argues that the New Right wrongly assume and hasbands and wives' roles are fixed by biology and believes that the New Right view of the family is a negative reaction against the feminist campaign for women's equality.
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Criticisms of The New Right Perspective 2
The rate of cohabition is higher among pooper social groups. Therefore, as Carol Smart points out, it may be poverty that causes the breakdown of relationships, rather than the decision not to marry.
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Postmodernism Perspective
For diversity in the family as it gives people choices and freedom.
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Postmodern Families: Stacey
Greater choice benefits women, it has enabled them to free themselves from patriarchal oppression and to shape their family arrangements to meet their needs.
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Modernism Perspective
Against family diversity and think that the nuclear family is the best as it fits our life stages that are set out for us.
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Chester: The Neo-Conventional Family
He argues that unlike The New Right perspective, there hasn't been any significant changes in family diversity and argues that the only change is the traditional roles in the family, having a male breadwinner and female homemaker.
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The Rapports: Five Types of Family Diversity
Organisational diversity, Cultural diversity, Social class diversity, Life-stage diversity, Generational diversity.
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The Individualisation Thesis
This argues that the traditional social structures such as class, gender and family have lost much of their influence over us. In the past peoples lives were defined by fixed roles where as now we have becomed 'freed'.
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Giddens: Choice and Equality
Argues that in recent decades the family and marriage have been transformed by greater choice and more equal relationship between men and women. This has occured because of contraception and because women have gained greater independance.
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Giddens: The Pure Relationship
Argues that what holds relationships together is no longer law, religion, social norms or traditional institutions. Instead, intimate relations nowadays are based on individual choice and equality which is known as a 'pure relationship'.
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Giddens: Same-Sex Couples as Pioneers
He sees same-sex couple relationships as leading the way towards new family types and creating more democratic and equal relationships.
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Beck: The Negotiated Family
He argues that we now live in a 'risk society' where tradition has less influence and people have more choice. Greater gender equality and greater individualism has created the 'negotiated family' which does not conform the traditional family norm.
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Beck: The Zombie Family
The family is known as a 'zombie catagory' as it appears to be alive but in reality it is dead. People want it to be the safe haven but todays family cannot provide this because of its own instability.
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The Personal Life Perspective
Agree that there is more family diversity but disagree with Beck and Giddens' explanation of it.
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The Personal Life Perspective: Criticisms of The Individualism Thesis
It exaggerates about how much freedom people have about family relationships. They claim that everyone is 'free-flowing' which ignores the fact that our decisions and choices are within social context. Social class and ethnicity factors are ignored.
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The Connectedness Thesis
Sociologists from The Personal Life perspective chose an alternative thesis. Smart argues that we a fundamentally social beings whose choices are always made 'within a web of connectedness'.
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The Connectedness Thesis: Class and Gender
These structures limit our choices about the kinds of relationships, identites and families we can create for ourselves.
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The Power of Structures
May argues that traditional structures are not dissapearing but infact they are being re-shaped.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

They are firmly opposed to family diversity and fully support the nuclear family.

Back

The New Right Perspective

Card 3

Front

The New Right claim that the main cause of lone-parent families is the collapse of relationships between cohabiting couples. The New Right perspective believe that this is due to a 'broken' society.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Feminist, Ann Oakley, argues that the New Right wrongly assume and hasbands and wives' roles are fixed by biology and believes that the New Right view of the family is a negative reaction against the feminist campaign for women's equality.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

The rate of cohabition is higher among pooper social groups. Therefore, as Carol Smart points out, it may be poverty that causes the breakdown of relationships, rather than the decision not to marry.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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